Equipment You Will Need

Homemade Raw Cheddar Cheese

This raw cheddar cheese is delicious! And if you don't have a cheese press, feel free to eat the curds fresh and un-pressed! Adapted from The Cheesemaker’s Manual.1 gallon of milk makes approximately 1 pound of cheese.

Instructions

Put the milk in the pot and slowly over a couple hours warm it to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring occasionally. Keep it covered to preserve heat.

Sprinkle the mesophilic culture on top of the milk.

Stir in very well.

Cover and allow to culture or "ripen" for 45 minutes to 1 hour, keeping the temperature at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. During the summer, turn burner off and cover pot with a bath towel to keep at temperature.

Meanwhile, dissolve rennet in about 1/4 cup of water. Set aside.

After the ripening time, pour the water-rennet mix into the milk, and stir well.

Cover the pot again and allow the milk to set for 30 to 45 minutes, until a firm curd forms. Once curd forms, if cut into with a knife, it should make a "clean break" -- where the curd splits and whey pours into the crack. See picture here.

Then cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes. Click here to read some good basic directions for making those cuts.

Be very gentle with the curds at this point. In fact, after cutting them, just let them sit for 5 minutes, undisturbed. Keep the cover on to keep them warm.

Then turn on the burner (if it isn’t on already) and heat the curds to 102 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of 40 minutes or so.

During this time, stir gently every 5 or 10 minutes to keep the curds from sticking and make them smaller.

Keep the curds at 102 degrees Fahrenheit for an additional 30 minutes.

Stir occasionally. Curds should be firm and a bit stretchy, surrounded with lots of whey. They should hold together if pressed. For more info on a texture test, check out The Cheesemaker’s Manual.

Let the curds settle at the bottom of the pot.

Pour off about 2/3 of the whey into another pot or container. You can keep this raw, cultured whey for lacto-ferments or soaking where a stronger flavor works well (such as veggie ferments).

Then transfer the curds to a colander, leaving the remaining whey in the pot.

Put the colander to nest inside the pot, so the curds are suspended over the warm whey. This begins the “cheddaring process” which gives the cheese its squeaky texture.

Let the curds drain for about 1 hour.

Cover the colander with a piece of cheesecloth and the pot lid.

Keep the burner on low if necessary to keep the whey warm.

During this hour, turn the slab of curds over a few times to make sure they’re draining well.

Take the slab of curds out of the colander, put it on a cutting surface, and then cut it into chunks.

Then cut the chunks into slices.

Put them in a bowl and toss with fine sea salt until just slightly oversalted. Remember that some of the salt will leave with the whey that gets pressed out.

If you don't have a cheese press, these curds are fresh and ready to be eaten! Delicious!

If you do have a cheese press, line mold with cheesecloth — could be the same piece that covered the curds during the cheddaring process.

Fill the mold with the slices of curd.

Using your press’s setup (follower, etc.), press the cheese at 10 to 15 pounds for about half an hour.

If the pressure loosens during this time, tighten it up again.

Take the cheese out of the mold, turn it over, and put it back in the mold (cheesecloth and all). This makes it pretty on top and bottom.

You’ll need a tray to catch the whey that drains during the pressing.

Continue pressing overnight (or 12 to 15 hours) with continual pressure, working it up to 35 to 45 pounds for the duration.

Once again, check frequently if the pressure loosens and adjust the press as necessary. What happens is the cheese gets smaller and shorter, but the press stays in the same position — thus the pressure on the cheese gets relieved, and we need to come in and tighten it up again. Not all presses work like this, but mine does.

Take the cheese out of the mold.

Air dry it at room temperature for a few hours or overnight.

Eat fresh, or age for 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Wax it for longer aging.

Mild cheddar develops in about 4 weeks, medium in about 2 to 3 months, and sharp in 6 months or more. Allow longer aging times for cheeses made from pasteurized milk (another reason raw is better!).

Enjoy! We make this cheese and other cultured dairy foods in the Cultured Dairy & Basic Cheese eCourse. You get video demonstrations and print tutorials to guide your mastery of yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, and some great basic cheeses.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Oh Wardee, your cheese looks beautiful! We made a stirred curd cheddar a month ago and we opened it up to see how it was. It tasted delicious! We re-waxed it and are waiting patiently to open it again on Thanksgiving. My husband is going to be taking a traditional cheddar class over in Yamhill, Oregon in November. We’re really looking forward to learn more about making traditional cheddar cheese!

I am so jealous! Your cheese looks awesome! I can’t wait until we can get a cheese press so I can start making my own cheese. So far I’ve only tried mozzarella…and I will only say that the recipe was not successful. 🙁

I love your e-courses and I think a cheese course would be awesome (hint, hint). 🙂

Oh! What lovely cheese! I just tried making cheese for the first time, but I made ricotta salata and then experimented with clabbers to make a very fun mozzarella without any directions! I so want to make some cheddar and your directions were great! Hugs Wardee! Alex

Tina — Click the cheesepress link above. That’s the one I use. It can do 2 to 4 pounds of cheese. This works well with my recipes as my pot can hold about 3 gallons of milk, which makes 3 pounds of cheese.

This is the neatest thing ever. I so want to do this. I can’t afford a cheese press right now, but maybe for Christmas. 🙂 My kids LOVE cheese, and we eat a lot of cheddar, but they cannot handle pasteurized dairy. We can (and do) buy raw cheese, but it would be great to make our own and know that it’s completely safe. Ah! I can’t wait.

There are lots of ideas and instructions on how to make your own press online. A simple google search shows lots! You might have some of the supplies laying around at home. Would be lots cheaper than buying one.

Hi Wardee,
My cheese making supplies arrived today and I am sooo excited to get started! Like Rebecca (just above my comment, I think), I’m unsure how much milk to use when following the measurements listed above for the mesophilic culture, vegetable rennet, and sea salt. Are those measurements specific to 2 gallons of milk, 3 gallons, or 4 gallons?
Thanks so much, I can’t wait to get this going!

When you say that “not all presses work like this but mine does” what exactly do you mean? Is there a press that doesn’t need constant tightening? And which press do you prefer and why? Thanks for posting such a simplified, very do-able way to make delicious cheddar cheese! 🙂

Curious: The book you got this recipe from… does it call for raw milk? If so, do a lot of the recipe use raw milk to start? I am wanting to get into cheese making this next year but the books I have found all use pasteurized milk.

I have noticed a lot of people asking about a cheese press and being very concerned about the cost involved. I made my own cheese press for about $15 in less than an hour, and that is a hour for someone without true skills! Here is the link to the youtube video where the guy shows you how to make the press. Very easy and it works great! Good luck!http://youtu.be/qdj2MQVuMhs if the link doesn’t work go to youtube and type in Homemade 10 Dollar Cheese Press.

I have several blocks of it aging in my cheese cave now…going to make another one tomorrow! I’m trying to make one a week till canning season gets here, but will see how it goes. LOL We haven’t had anything but crumbs though, as I’m trying to age it…will see how the first block turned out in another month or two. :-)) …Deb

I’m just getting started in learning to make my own raw cheese. I would like to make a mother culture because it is more sustainable but the instructions say to boil the skim milk before making the culture, which then would cause the culture to not be raw. My problem is that once it gets past 118* the enzymes break down and my son is allergic to it once that happens. His allergy to pasteurized milk is the main reason I am trying to learn to make truly raw cheese.

I am a little confused…every thing I have read in books and online states that if you use raw milk you should be sure NOT to eat it before the 3 month aging period due to bacteria. That if you want to eat it prior to the 3 months aging…to use pasteurized milk. I could see it may be okay to eat it immediately…but after a few days I would think it would be best to wait the full three months. I only use raw milk here for our consumption and will be using raw milk for our cheese, but I do want to make sure that what I give my family is safe.

I have to disagree with you on this one, Joel. Remember that when milk comes out of the cow, it is at body temperature, which for a healthy cow is about 102 degrees. Enzymatic changes are noted in milk when heated above 105. Therefore, the low temperatures indicated in this recipe are within a range that preserves the natural enzymes
present in fresh, raw milk. The low heat is necessary for the mesophilic cultures (which are defined as thriving in moderate temperatures) to grow.

Hi Wardee,
I made this cheese with my new Ultimate Cheese Press, it worked great! Can you please tell me what to put it into during refrigeration ? I have it in a ziplock bag, and I noticed there is condensation on the bag, please advise, as I don’t know if this is normal, or if it will hurt the cheese. Is there a better way to store it? Thank you!

Hi Millie, thank you for the response 🙂 one more thing, if you don’t consume the cheese right away, is it safe? I have read that raw cheese should be aged 60 days. I made a batch Jan.7th and we want to keep eating on it, but not sure if we can? Any advice will be appreciated thanks!

I think they do melt a little, but it’s not the same because the whey hasn’t been pressed out. If you let them sit in the fridge for a day or so, a bunch of whey will still come off them. That melts better 🙂

I love that this is a raw cheese. I have made it a few times but have noticed on some batches that the cheese is spongier. now I am only making curds but what might be causing the curd to have a sponge like texture?

Before Footer

g-NOWF-glinz

Traditional Cooking School

Traditional Cooking School is an online cooking school Wardee created to honor her grandmother’s cooking traditions and preserve them so that future generations can enjoy the health benefits, flavors and fun of traditionally prepared foods. Join 9,903 families served since 2010!Learn more here…